Organizational Framework Conditions, Organizational Culture and Intrapreneurship in Hospitality: A Case-Study

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is well renowned for its successful human resources practices and famous for its motto: "We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen". What is less studied is how the company's culture e management practices are related to corporate entrepreneurship. In this article we will present the case of Penha Longa, a Ritz-Carlton resort in Portugal. Based on in-depth interviews, with the General Manager and Human Resources Manager, secondary data and in-site observation, we describe how Penha Longa succeeds at being one of the most innovative resorts in the luxury market by establishing some organizational framework conditions to foster entrepreneurial employee behaviour: opportunity and availability of information; idea generation processes; simplicity and speed of decision-making; and, flow of resources to innovative initiatives.